Another crash test results announcement, following on the recent ASEAN NCAP second phase testing results – Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) earlier tonight released official safety rating results for two Proton vehicles, the Proton Suprima S and Exora.

The MPV, which is equipped with dual frontal and side airbags with thorax and head protection for front occupants, scored 26.37 out of a possible 37 points. In the offset crash test, the Exora scored 10.55 out of 16 points – driver chest protection was acceptable and leg protection was marginal. In the side impact crash test, it managed 14.82 out of 16 points – driver chest protection was listed as acceptable.

The Exora result – with testing carried out in July – reflected its performance in the 40% frontal offset test, where the risk of serious injury to the driver’s legs was high. Side impact performance was good, but overall pedestrian test results were poor, according to ANCAP.

“The lack of rear curtain airbags is also of concern for a people mover which will inevitably be marketed to families” said ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh.

As for the Suprima S, it looks like the five-star rating has been obtained without the car needing to undergo the actual crash testing procedure, as the six airbag-equipped hatch’s structural composition and mechanical integrity is virtually identical to that of the Preve. According to ANCAP, Proton has provided technical evidence to ANCAP showing that the Suprima S provides comparable occupant protection.

To wit, the technical performance report listed for it is that for the Preve sedan, which received a five-star ANCAP safety rating back in February this year. The Suprima S is to be introduced in Australia from December – ahead of its entry there, the five-door hatch is expected to be launched in the Indonesian and Thai markets in the coming months, mirroring the Preve sedan’s export path.

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

Same as Avanza? Not really. The Avanza wasn’t tested for side impacts in ASEAN NCAP. That is where the Avanza will perform bad (mind you, the Malaysian spec Exora wouldn’t do well in that test either).

really ? any proof dear kadajawi ?
Perodua Alza also did better than Avanza ..
the result u can find here in Paultan ,
Preve and Suprima score 5stars ANCAP
they targeting for 5stars Asean NCAP next in line.

yeah.. many problem right ?
that kind of problem can be repaired,
Proton cars have warranty
if u suffer family loss, can it be repaired ?
life is priceless ..
FYI, Exora has lower percentage to roll over compared to Avanza (higher profile MPV)

I don’t think the general public put a lot of consideration on safety when buying a car. I think they are more concerned that with Proton, things will break more often amounting to higher ownership cost, not to mention the inconvenience they’ll have to face. The foreign-moon-is-brighter mentality…
Also there’s the idea of “you get for what you pay”. Since the Toyota costs more, it must be better in some way.
A lot of working class citizens cannot afford to change car that often, they are only putting their hard earned money on where they think it’s safe ( financially speaking of course…)

i didnt agree with u.most malaysian highly support and accept perodua. other den safely , proton should put more effort on part durable and fuel economy. take a example , my dad persona and my fiesta is bought on same time. persona engine sound so rough and 1 of center locking was spoil.

that’s ture. it’s all about perception. i own preve more than a year and i never faced any problem that ppl alwiz shouting about e.g. turbo bocor laa..leak sana sini..never! but the noisy cvt is true..1st batch preve has a bit noisy cvt. but i dont hear that in suprima S. that’s an improvement. but overall, i like my car..and i feel safe driving it. peace of mind. and i dont mind some ppl say low RV..coz i wanna use it for a long time and i enjoyed driving it. at least 7 years..

I do own a car, a 2007 Proton Saga (the really crappy tin milo one with no airbags, and the carb 1.3 engine). On the other hand, my mom drives a 2012 Saga FLX 1.3 and my dad drives a 2011 Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8. Plus, we also have a 1999 Proton Wira Aeroback 1.5. I’ve either driven or experienced all four cars in one way or another.

I know how horrible old Proton cars are. I also know how ‘good’ today’s Proton cars are. They have indeed improved so much since the 90s.

But every time I sit in my dad’s Toyota Altis, I feel disappointed because it’s not as good looking as the Mazda 3, or value for money like the Kia Cerato or ‘simply perfect’ like the Ford Focus. Not that the Altis is a bad car, it’s just that for the money (with or without tax), it’s not a good one either. On the other hand, I feel that for the money, the Saga FLX is a worthy buy. So far, never give us any problems either. Of course, there is a lot of room for improvement, but from what we see in the news today, Proton has done a lot of good things lately. UMW Toyota on the other hand, they haven’t changed one bit, still the same old crappy, stingy company. Can’t even give an extra two airbags and ESC with the Camry. For the above reasons, I’m willing to give Proton a chance and lend them some support. But let me make it clear; no, I don’t support the cronies behind Proton, it’s those hard working fellas like Syed Zainal Abidin that I bow down to. Not that other guy who started it all in 1983. Supporting Proton doesn’t make you a BN supporter, at least, I don’t think so.

That’s just my thoughts and honest opinions anyway.

Maybe I am inexperienced, but I’d like to think that I’m not biased. Most Proton bashers don’t own a Toyota/Honda/Nissan cars, and vice versa.

I’ve seen enough of both sides to know who deserves the support most.

@alldisc : LOL well, I wasn’t even being serious, and sarcasm is meant to be funny…. but I guess it doesn’t work so well on the internet. My mistake anyway, should have known better. I’ll refrain from using ambiguous statements in the future. :]

Aero, if P1 and P2 never exit, we can buy cheaper but better cars, their cars r improving but the badges cant improving anymore! i’m confused coz when u drive ur dad Altis and feel disappointed?! if i drive Mazda 3 and i feel disappointed coz my car is not as good as the BMW M3?

LOL siapa cakap U.S. ? I’m talking about our Malaysian-spec Accord lah. Of course, as a car, the Accord beats the crap out of the Suprima in every way, but unfortunately, Honda Malaysia wants to save money by cutting down the number of airbags and safety equipment. 2 airbags for the 2.0, 4 airbags for the 2.4 – where got enough ? The Accord got 4 stars in Australia’s ANCAP, that’s with 6 airbags btw. So our Malaysian-spec how many stars ? Go figure.

Well, proton is improving their cars ..
Brands does not define everything,
try watch youtube for the Audi A4 crash test,
u will suprise how bad the crash did to the driver.
Toyota Camry is the worst crash test in its class in car crash, youtube – IIHS crash test (google it)
watch with your own eyes .. :)

It will take another few years for Proton to repair the damaged reputation, if of course they become serious and don’t simply let the ‘aw-tah’ cronies supply them spare parts. Lets give lower income motorists some hope..

They tested the Australian Exora, so they test it with the specs the car comes with there.

It is up to consumers in Malaysia to demand Proton to improve the specifications of the local model. Car makers will do what they have to to sell cars, and in Malaysia that means big rims and bodykits instead of safety features.

Yeah man, it’s honestly up to people like us to spread the awareness on car safety. Most Malaysians assume that so long as they buy a Toyota/Honda/Nissan etc., they’re bulletproof and safe, and Proton or Perodua is synonymous with ‘tin milo’.

The reality is the converse, Proton’s newer cars (Exora, Preve and Suprima) are all as safe or safer than Malaysian-spec Japanese cars. But so sad, only those who are open minded enough will accept this fact.

Btw, bro, I suggest you get a ‘user photo’ or something, I don’t want to confuse you with that other kadajawa guy.

halloooo… those who cares about safety features usually can afford more than just a proton…
proton buyers normally look at the price first…
if exora fitted with so many things then it wont be cheap and proton customer cannot afford them already…so whats the point?
look at Suprima-s, loaded with so many features but not selling well due to wrong price bracket….i mean, proton customers want it cheap….features comes second or third…thats reality

I have to agree, Proton should served as an alternative to more secure and safe Continental brand (including Volvo) by offering complete safety standard with affordable price point for Rakyat Marhaein.

Come Proton, you got nothing to lose ! the Gov always there to bail you out anyway !!

I think it’s due to the Suprima being the hatchback version of the Preve, sharing the same body minus the boot. And also the Suprima was crash tested by Mira lab in the UK (lab recognized by ANCAP) and ANCAP used that data to certify it 5 stars (at least for our local market). Proton included the pictures of the crash test in their Suprima brochures.

Hey Anthony, would you be able to get the crash test videos for the Suprima? Would love to see it. It’s not everyday we get to see our local product get certified the highest score in an internationally recognized test.

Proton is still Proton. Those who owned Proton knew the negative aspect more than positive. No matter how Proton trying to bring back their image towards public, they will have to sacrifice as many as possible. Even Malaysian cant accept their own brand due to bad reputation and quality, what about others country? From scratch Proton should plan ahead before they sell thier products to us.

As a Proton user (Exora and Saga FL), I have to disagree. Their recent products have shown vast improvement over its predecessors. In fact, it has made me believe that Proton has what it takes to still make it in the industry.

Yeah! Exora bold CFE is a decent MPV…
i would say very competitive comparison to the honda stream and toyota wish….
those who have experience driving exora bold, stream and wish will understand what i’m saying here

Are you kidding me? It’s not like we have other choices? Proton is one of the cheapest car in town. We decide to support proton because it’s cheaper than other car companies that are sold here. We buy because its cheaper.GET IT? -.-

Hmmm not bad for a Proton car made in 2009, just goes to show that Syed Zainal Abidin was NOT all talk and no show.

Either way, the general perception of Malaysians toward Proton won’t change or improve for some time, even if Proton clearly has.

Which is why I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way Proton can win over the hearts of *most* Malaysians, is that if Proton can compete and sell their cars in countries which Malaysians ‘look up to’, like Australia, UK, US, Germany, Japan etc.

Some of these markets (especially Japan, Germany, France and Korea) are impossible to crack, but I’m quite confident that Proton can easily make it in China, India, Russia, the entire Middle East (except Israel), South America, and eventually (and hopefully) Australia, UK, and the grand prize of them all, the US.

That’s the only way. If Hyundai-Kia can do it, Proton can too. No need to be No. 1, or even Top 10 best seller, just play it safe and be ‘relevant’, that’s more than enough for Proton to remain profitable and competitive.

Good luck Proton, you only have 4 years until the next GE. It’s do or die time !

“Some of these markets (especially Japan, Germany, France and Korea) are impossible to crack”

In case of Germany I doubt this. Approx. 37% of the registered cars there are imported and the low-cost Dacia sells very well there. It’s a myth that all Germans drive BMW and Benz.

And although Proton left the german market already in 2001, still 4096 Protons are registered in Germany. BTW: Mandatory TÜV (PUSPAKOM) inspection every two years, if a car is found to be ‘not roadworthy’ (or if the owner misses the date for inspection) it will be automatically de-registered.

Well, the reason why I mentioned Germany was 1] yes, as you’ve pointed out, they always give preference to their local brands (dunno to what extent, its there for sure), but more importantly, 2] Proton will need a EU localisation program, like Hyundai-Kia and Toyota. Some Proton cars must be built from the ground up to EU regulations, and manufactured in an EU member state. The Hyundai i40 is the absolute best example, fully built in Germany by Germans under Korean sponsorship.

The biggest reason why Proton sold well in Germany in the past was because when Proton launched there (1994/5), Germany was only just reunited. Most of the East Germans didn’t know anything about Proton, they just bought them because they were cheap. Fortunately, these German Proton Wiras and Satrias were damn tough (as was Proton’s export cars in the past), they even came with all round power windows, ABS and dual airbags (check the German used car online listings). This explains why there are so many old Proton cars on European/German roads today, as you’ve pointed out.

In today’s circumstances, it will be VERY DIFFICULT for Proton to regain that foothold, they’ve lagged behind too much already. But it’s all good, the European market is saturated already, there’s no point spending all the resources there, which is why I said, ‘just be relevant’.

Japan – This one memang cannot lah, I agree with you. Even BMW, Mercedes, Ford, Chevy, VW, all struggle to crack 1 or 2% yearly market share. Japanese ALWAYS buy Japanese first. Only those ‘niche’ cars like the Fiat 500, VW Golf and a few others sell well in Japan. Proton has no chance.

UK – Well, the Preve and Exora Turbo were already previewed in the UK, and the Suprima is undergoing testing. For the last 5 years, Proton has been doing badly, really badly in the UK, but we’ll see how things work out next year when all the above cars are launched there.

China – Huh ? Not really, the JV with Youngman was quite successful. Proton sold more than 100,000 Personas and Gen-2s in China in the last 5 or so years. Check Proton’s Wikipedia page. Plus, Youngman’s own car, the L5, is based on the Gen-2 platform, and has a CamPro engine. It’s not a Proton, but Youngman pays Proton royalties in the MILLIONS, just like how Proton did with Mitsubishi last time. Proton just needs to export more cars to China, and find more partners. That’s all there is to it.

India – This country is a tough nut, but Hyundai did it somehow. If Proton can make small diesel cars for India and India only, I don’t see why they won’t sell. Indians think highly of Malaysia, more so than Korea. Same goes for Middle East countries. This works in Proton’s favour.

yup..GSC/P3-20 is proton new model replacing savvy…but trust me..GSC is bigger than savvy almost similar size to myvi or jazz…new design language applied…they may worth to wait..will entering the market next year…

What ever star is given if u are to die in a crash u will die also. Anyway, have seen the Suprima up close and i tell u its a big letdown..especially the interior..looks cheap. All this newspaper reports locally just go on and on about how good it is but i;m sure Proton paid them to say nice things. I remember when they launch Inspira, i went to see with my friend who has a Lancer GT and truth is the Inspira looks the same but if u try knock on the body panel u will know why. Like tin kosong.Try on the Lancer GT and u will know the difference. NO Proton for me ever!

OMG! thats just your perception dude..
Inspira is a Lancer…hence, the body panel is the same… different is very minimal, less than 15% change content lah…haiyooo..
u think proton will use different body panel to save cost? changing will only increase cost…so no, they didnt change body panel. they r smarter thatn u think..hahahahaa…no offense, but u need to learn more dude before start posting

Ok huray ….Proton. I am not a proton basher as I am happy that Proton have improved significantly. I owned a Proton Waja previously from my 5 years of owning the car I have little complain. If you look at the photo of Exora being crash head on with the frontal barrier I might be wrong paul didnt the Side Airbag fail to deploy here. Please explain….

Umm… theres a reason while it is called side airbag…. it only deploys when the crash impact from the SIDE is high enough to trigger it. So it only deploy when the car is involve in side impact… frontal impact as u seen on the article, only front airbag deployed (and knee airbag if its there)…

no offense bro, but i dun think we can use Waja to represent what a proton is today…its in the past and history.
new era of Proton starts from Exora Bold CFE onwards…its their new chapter and i hope they will come out with even better product in future as the market is now even more competitive..
we as consumer should benefit from this situation

Proton has what it takes to go further but it lacks consistency – direction wise, model wise, improvement wise, innovation wise. Being a proton owner myself, what I wanted was a relatively good ownership experience, which I can conclude that Proton didn’t do well. It’s getting there but it’s not there yet and I don’t know when. peace!

Real story experience for Proton is really bad. My relative Persona, failure everywhere after 1 year usage. Proton Waja, worse ever breakdown after few years, even pedal n gear shifter is damage. Proton Wira, worse case scenario. Rusty all over after using few years otr but engine is good due to MMC tech. Proton Saga (New), door handle damage if pull it too hard. Rear boot handle drop off n even damage badly if hit by motorcycle. This is what ive saw in real life. If Proton is good, why there are so many issue tat cause consumer to spend money to repair. Perodua show a better in term of that. Even we have to pay 6 to 12k for myvi over saga. I can say, perodua is nothing to worry for. I have Proton, Perodua n Toyota. All I can say is Perodua is better n Toyota even better. Proton still need more improvement to gained ppl confident.

Proton’s quality problems are very real and has nothing to do with perception. They are improving in their design and engineering but their biggest let down are the quality control of their parts. Either they are trying to cut cost at expense of reliability or their supply chain are still crowded with cronies out for profit only.

Hmmm. Any idea how to improve PROTON so that people perception of PROTON improve as well? Does PROTON need to JV with other company and and form newco under PROTON Holdings with new brand image (similar like Toyota and Lexus case)? What about merger between P1 and P2? I need some constructual feedback from readers. Thanks.

Short-cut – sell the brand to other already established brand (Skoda-VW case study) and voila you got customer trust in an instance.. in the case of Skoda they still remain their Czech identity even though inside is all Germans..

Medium-cut – merge with other local brands (Hyundai-Kia case study) to create fake but healthy competition.. this will boost up economic of scale in long run.. no matter who buys which brand at the end both companies still enjoy the profit.. it’s a win-win situation..

long-cut – this is very costly and time consuming.. need to improve on the most impacting perception that people have on the brand (design, safety, quality, performance).. in the case of proton, i strongly believed that the inferior safety perception (remember tin milo?) is already in the past.. next step would be design (already getting there but not quite yet) and most importantly quality (refinement, fit & finish, reliability).. in local scene quality perception is far greater than design (truly tried and tested hallmarks of japs brand).. so if you want to recapture the local folks heart again you should already know what to do by now..

I would love to buy proton again and i am a proud Malaysian. I love my country and i want to support Buatan Malaysia.
But its not easy making a living these days… every sen i make is blood and sweat money.
Its a fact of life, a second hand japanese car is more reliable than a first hand proton.
Im driving a 2009 vios, bought in 2011, now still perfectly good condition.

For comparison,I bought a savvy in 2006. first day drive back from showroom…car cannot start,changed battery..(hows that for customer experience), on the way home..radiator fan spoil, engine light come up.
luckily throughout the 5 years AMT no issues, BUT absorber, power window, radiator fan spoil twice, rear drum brake jam, electronics ie the lights once in a while go haywire. Worst experience was at service centre, some guy changed the engine oil without changing the plug(which cost <rm3 )in the end my engine oil leak until the next morning, went back to service centre, they made me wait for 4 hrs, paid an admin fee, made me buy a new plug, and top up my engine oil with oil dunno from where..

hahahahaaa… dude, many others drive other than Proton while Proton is still there selling their cars…
stop blaming others for your own shortcomings..
we have choice…we always do..
btw, I agree with u on your savvy experience, but it was a mistake proton do not want to repeat in their future plan..

How pity you bro…I have a 2004 Wira, not a single problem as what you write above ever happened to me. Only minor wear and tear. I drive on average 4400 km/month; so far changed the timing belt (sudah lama maaa), rear absorber, all four bushing, aircond fan motor, wipers, tyres, spark plug, engine oil….that’s it.

You jaga your kereta baik2, your kereta tak meragam lor….

I bring in my own distilled water to workshop (for radiator water topup) and my own minyak hitam. Ok jer.

My parent RM21k Saga serve us well for 10 years before we trade for a fullspec RM55k Wira in 1997, and our nightmare begin afterward. Power window the main culprit (anyway the Saga no power window), radiator spoil twice, rubber and plastic broken.

Finally we get rid the bloody Wira after 5 years and since then Proton is blacklisted for our whole family. Frankly I still not confident with their products and worst now politically effected our choice, sorry Mamakthir.

I would have a thought of buying this car if it has a good FC (9l/km left much to be desired) and use a timing chain, just to save time on maintenance. As a weekend husband I travelled a lot and I usually covers 10000 km in every 2.5 months.

Besides safety, I believe people who buying proton in Malaysia are more concern on the pricing,economy and maintenance cost (reliability). I really hope that Proton can keep improve from this angle instead of putting bunch of accessories and selling the car expensive but at the end the buyers are reward with the high maintenance cost

Stereotypical ppl just cause its Toyota every bit and pieces all so good meh? In fact avanza is the most crap mpv.Exora sacrifice its performance for safety aspects hence the hot press foaming body, strengthed chassis hence the heavy bodywork.Stop worship those milo tim Asean Toyotas la theyre no where near the JDM standard its just a gateway for Toyota to earn side income from 3rd world countries where fully import cars cost a bomb.You should be glad that local cars earn 4 & 5 stars respectively not by condemning them further.Mind you Toyotas nor Japanese govt also nvr pay you a single cents praising them also.

NCAP ratings only will not sell cars.
Proton and its current line of crappy engines is
living a slow death . While other companies
are busy developing more fuel efficient and
reliable engines , Proton is still stuck in a
time warp and recycling their outdated fleet of cars. If the 1.6 CPS can perform as good as a
2.0 litre car then why did the Govt opt for the Honda Accord instead and Penang opted for
a Camry. The rakyat is again played out into
believing that P1 produces world class car ..not.!!

Reliable engine. Yes. Campro is reliable. Seldom any problem with campro despite it is not that fuel efficient. But it is not all bad FC.

It is CFE that produces 2.0 equivalent power. Not CPS.

CFE equipped with latest tech. However, during the development phase, some tech which is familiar with modern turbocharged engine (TSI, Prince, Ecoboost) could not be implemented due to cost and target market. Higher compression ratio and GDI will make CFE will only accept high quality fuel. Which makes the CFE cannot enter Indonesia market.

yes..i agree with you..i’ve use campro almost 8 years in my gen2 and never faced any problem. now the engine almost clocked at 300,000km. with NGV system installed almost 4 years, 160-180 km/h is nothing (because some says, engine will damage at that speed with NGV).

Now you have proved you can procude a safe car.
Now, next in line to keep us excited:
– Better design in and out, JANGAN SYOK SENDIRI!
– Quality, quality, quality
– Better engine – in terms of power delivery & fuel efficiency. Produce something with your Pertonas engine ASAP, market is waiting!
– Accelerate your hybrid and EV program
– Milk Lotus’s expertise until it dries out, pretty sure they have more to offer than just ride & handling.

With all the lousy M’sian drivers on the road these days, ANCAP, EURO CAP, ASEAN CAP or baseball CAP for that matter… it doesn’t really matter anymore since fatal accident keeps on increasing every year…

Proton problem lies with their vendor,the same vendor also supply parts with Honda and Perodua,Whatever parts rejected by those two will be given to Proton.To add salt into injury the attitude of service centre are sucks.I do own Saga FL/Preve,Honda Oddyssey,VW golf 1.4tsi and a Peugeot 5008

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